How much do you need to win by for you to have a "mandate"?

[Dragonlady]

Last mandate I remember was Reagan. How much did he win by?

The last mandate, was Obama. Obama won all three branches of government AND the popular vote. That's an "overwhelming mandate". So Mitch McConnell and the Republicans set about to thwart that mandate at every turn. AND THEY FAILED BADLY.

 

[JWBooth]

OMFG.
Learn to read.

You’re asking too much.

 

[M14 Shooter]

I'd probably add in Obama's second term as well.

If Trump won 379/49.2%, a great many people would argue he has no mandate.

 

[Lesh]

I remember both Bush and Trump claiming mandates

 

[M14 Shooter]

All of the Presidents inflicted on the nation by the Electoral College, and who did not have the support of the people, were failures, as Presidents -

Bill Clinton was a failure?

 

[Dragonlady]

Interesting.
Some people say Clinton 1996 was a mandate, with 379 electoral votes.
You disagree.

How can you have a "mandate" if your party doesn't control the House??? Look at how handcuffed Biden has been since the Keystone Cops took over the House and spent two years running around shooting one another or themselves in the foot, at every turn.

 

[Dragonlady]

Bill Clinton was a failure?

Bill Clinton won both the popular vote and the EC both times he ran. Neither Bush nor Trump won the popular vote.

 

[M14 Shooter]

How can you have a "mandate...

Just so long as it is clear, you agree Clinton had no mandate.

 

[M14 Shooter]

Bill Clinton won both the popular vote and the EC both times he ran.

Bill Clinton won 43% and 49.2% of the popular vote.

 

[martybegan]

If Trump won 379/49.2%, a great many people would argue he has no mandate.

They would be partisan hacks.

 

[dblack]

There should be no "mandate" as we currently understand it. Winning an election merely means we've chosen a leader. It's not a free pass for one party to slam home their agenda.

"Elections have consequences" is the worst thing Obama ever said.

 

[M14 Shooter]

"Elections have consequences" is the worst thing Obama ever said.

As the Democrats who cheered his statement found out before and while Trump was President.

 

[dblack]

As the Democrats who cheered his statement found out before and while Trump was President.

Exactly. But these are lessons that blind partisans are incapable of learning. They're driven by the delusion that, if they can simply put together an electoral win, they can eradicate (or at least silence) all those who disagree with them.

 

[Foxfyre]

Clinton's second term.

Clinton did not get 50% of the popular vote in either election. In 1992 he got 43% of of the vote to GHWB's pitiful 38%. Ross Perot got roughly 20% and might have actually won if he hadn't gone batsh*t crazy in the eleventh hour.

In 1996 running against an unattractive (to many) Bob Dole, Clinton got 49.2% of the vote to Dole's 40.7%. Perot was a distant third with 8.4%.

It was Newt Gingrich's and his GOP reformers sweep of Congress in 1994 that could be seen as a mandate. It was a very clear repudiation of Clinton policies up to that point. Aided and abetted by Tim Penny's 30 odd old guard reformer Democrats, Gingrich dragged Clinton kicking and screaming into pretty much a successful presidency as reflected in that 1996 vote.

But yes, the 1976 re-election of Richard Nixon could certainly qualify as a mandate:

As could the 1984 re-election of Ronald Reagan:

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

But Biden won by three gazillion! He broke obama’s record. He almost won by more votes than there are voters!
If Harris can capture the Europe and Africa votes she’ll have a (wo)mandate!

 

[Dragonlady]

Bill Clinton won 43% and 49.2% of the popular vote.

What percentage of the vote did Bush get? There was a huge 3rd party vote for Ross Perot in 1982.

 

[M14 Shooter]

What percentage of the vote did Bush get?

Absolutely irrelevant to the fact the majority of voters did not want Clinton to be President.
1992 1996 and 2016.
Bill only won because the electoral college inflicted him on us.

 

[BluesLegend]

Now, obviously, you only win with electoral votes; "winning" the popular vote and $1.00 $4.49 (Biden/Harris Inflation) will buy large Diet Coke at Wendy's.

Fixed that for you.

 

[M14 Shooter]

Fixed that for you.

Nah. It's a new special they literally just came out with - saw it on TV this morning.

 

[BluesLegend]

Nah. It's a new special they literally just came out with - saw it on TV this morning.

$1 with a $3.49 Dem sales tax